News Archive

Dear Members,

The Annual Conference of the International Bar Association will be held this year in Sydney from 8 to 13 October 2017. The annual conference is a central event of the international legal community’s calendar.

What will the IBA Annual Conference 2017 offer you?

• Access to the world's best networking and business development event for lawyers - attracting over 6,000 individuals in 2016 representing over 2,700 law firms, corporations, governments and regulators from over 130 jurisdictions
• Gain up-to-date knowledge of the key developments in your area of law which you can put into practice straight away - view the live programme to see the sessions available
• Build invaluable international connections with leading practitioners worldwide, enabling you to win more work and referrals
• Receive world-class professional development opportunities - CLE/CPD
• Acquire a greater knowledge of the role of law in society
• Be part of the debate on the future of the law

To register and for more information, please click here to visit the IBA website.

The Asian Australian Lawyers Association is proud to partner with Liquid Learning for The 2nd Annual Asian Australian Leadership Summit 2017 taking place on July 19th & 20th at Rydges World Square, Sydney. This is Australia’s only dedicated professional development event specifically designed to develop Asian Australian leaders. Through anecdotal case studies from inspiring Asian Australian leaders and expert advice from diversity and cross-cultural specialists, this event will equip Asian Australian leaders with the tools they need to overcome the barriers on the path to leadership.

Speakers at this event will include:

·  Tien-Ti Mak, Innovation Partner and Chief Technology Officer, Australia Post

·  Yung Ngo, State General Manager (NSW,ACT,VIC,TAS) and Chair of the Cultural Diversity Leadership Employee Action Group, Westpac

·  Hui Cheng Tan, Head of Financial Planning and Analysis, Microsoft

·  Ken Woo, Partner, PwC

·  Grace Bacon, Head of International Segment, ANZ Private, ANZ

·  Leon Doyle, Partner and Head of Experience Design, Deloitte

·  Peter Chun, General Manager, Products and Investments, Colonial First State

·  Gamini Martinus, Assurance Partner, Ernst & Young

·  Cheng Lim,  Partner, King and Wood Mallesons

·  Warren Bingham, Executive Chairman, MedTech International Pty Ltd Vice President, Asia Pacific, Clinical Genomics

·  Swati Dave, Non-executive Director, Asia Society Australia, Former Executive General Manager, Enterprise, National Australia Bank

·  As well as 7 other leaders

AALA members are warmly invited to attend and will receive 10% off the standard rate. If you are a AALA member, you should have received an email with details about how to obtain the discounted rate when registering. For any queries in relation to this event, please contact us at info@aala.org.au.

Dear Members,

Due to the success in Brisbane 2015 and Perth 2016, CIArb Australia will be conducting the Introduction to International Arbitration course in Melbourne on Saturday, 17 June 2017. AALA members are warmly invited to attend.

The Hon Justice Clyde Croft of the Supreme Court of Victoria will be a special special guest speaker.  He will be joining other prominent practitioners for the day-long course which carries a pathway to Associate member status of CIArb. 

For further details and how to register, click here https://www.ciarb.net.au/training/introduction-to-international-arbitration-2017/

This panel discussion on Cultural Diversity in the Legal Profession was held at the Law Institute of Victoria on 17 May 2017 as a collaboration between AALA, Tarwirri Indigenous Law Students and Lawyers Association of Victoria and Hellenic Australia Lawyers Association for Law Week.
 
The guest panellists were:
-          Kareena Gay, President of Tarwirri Indigenous Law Students and Lawyers Association of Victoria,
-          Tuanh Nguyen, President of Asian Australian Lawyers Association; and
-          Maria Barbayannis, Vice President and Victorian Chapter Chair of Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association.
Maneka Siva Nathan from Arnold Bloch Leibler acted as moderator.
 
The panel shared their experiences of entering the legal profession and explored the current challenges to increasing cultural diversity in the legal profession.
 
The panel speakers held, at times, contrasting perspectives which reflected their experience from different cultural backgrounds - Indigenous Australian, Vietnamese Australian and Greek Australian.
 
Kareena spoke of previously feeling guilty for being offered a place at law school as an Indigenous Australian when other students from a non-Indigenous background lost out. She later made peace with this, realising that it was simply the way the system worked to increase the attendance at university of Indigenous Australians.
 
Tuanh spoke about her experience of having to work harder to overcome the initial preconceptions that people have of you because you look of an Asian background or have a non-Anglo name. Tuanh also referred to research whereby people with a non-Anglo name are less likely be hired by a potential employer in comparison to someone with an Anglo name who otherwise have the same skills and experience. 
 
Maria said that her family had changed their name so that it sounded more Anglo when they migrated to Australia in about the 1940s. She has since changed her name back. She felt that the discrimination experienced by European migrants was probably not as strong or harsh as that experienced by non-European migrants and was somewhat surprised to hear of the discrimination against job applicants with non-Anglo names since this was not her experience.
 
Kareena said that Indigenous people had come a very long way, the first ever Indigenous person having been appointed to the judiciary about 1 to 1.5 years ago. She noted that this year would be 50 years since the 1967 referendum to amend the Australian Constitution, which gave the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Indigenous Australians and recognise them in the national census.
 
Tuanh referred to research findings contained in the AALA Cultural Diversity Report that of a pool of 1,057 judges in Australia, only 8 were of an Asian Australian background. This is clearly not representative of the general population nor the community. Maria said that she did not think the Greek community faced the same problem as there are already a number of members of the judiciary being of Greek heritage. Maria commented that this may be due to the fact that significant Greek immigration to Australia occurred earlier in time and it would take some time before the judiciary would have more people of Asian Australian background. 
 
There was a strong discussion about whether affirmative action was a good or bad model to undertake within the legal profession. Tuanh opined that it can be detrimental, especially where a person is put into a position not due to their merits but in order meet a quota. Kareena agreed and said that we need to adopt meaningful ways of achieving cultural diversity.

The AALA National Executive Committee is pleased to announce that it has formally approved the establishment of a Western Australia Branch Committee. This is an exciting step in the development of the AALA as a truly national body for representing Asian Australian lawyers. Peter Le, President of the WA Branch Committee, said: "The WA branch is excited to be a part of the Association and is looking forward to making a valuable contribution to the Association and the advancement of cultural diversity in the law and the legal profession."

Details of the WA branch launch will be announced shortly.

Tarwirri-Indigenous Law Student and Lawyers Association of Victoria, in conjunction with the Asian Australian Lawyers Association are proud to present a panel discussion on Cultural Diversity in the Legal Profession.

The panel will share their experiences entering the legal workforce and provide a personal perspective on this important issue. Through different cultural perspectives, the panel will explore the modern challenges to increasing cultural diversity and the way forward to a legal profession which is reflective of the wider community that it represents and serves.

Register

SBS has recently reported on the appointment of Raj Malhotra to the Magistrates' Court of Victoria.

The article references AALA's cultural diversity report, and also quotes AALA Committee Member Molina Asthana:

It's a very proud moment for us Indians to see this cultural diversity in the legal profession.

We have been working on this diversity issue in the legal profession through the Asian Australian Lawyers Association and this is a step towards piercing the 'bamboo ceiling.' A very welcome step indeed

To read the article, please click here.

The Prime Minister has recently released a statement on multiculturalism in Australia entitled "Multicultural Australia: United, Strong, Successful".

The AALA welcomes the statement, which reaffirms the Australian government's commitment to supporting multiculturalism in Australia.

To view the Prime Minister's media release, please click here.

To view the news article on SBS's website, please click here.

Dear Members,

The Asia Pacific Regional Forum are offering a scholarship to attend the 2017 International Bar Association Annual Conference in Sydney in October 2017. 

The scholarship will be awarded to young lawyers who wish to participate in the Annual Conference, but who may face financial difficulties in doing so. Applications are open to all qualified lawyers age 35 and under.

The deadline to submit applications is Sunday, 7 May 2017. For full scholarship information and application criteria, please go to: http://www.ibanet.org/Committees/Divisions/Sydney-2017-Scholarship-Programme.aspx.

For a list of all 2017 Annual Conference scholarships, please go to: http://www.ibanet.org/Committees/Divisions/APRF-Scholarship.aspx.

Dear Members,

Join the AALA NSW Committee, fellow members and special guest speaker barristers Nigel Cotman SC and Wilson Chan, in a discussion of how to create contracts for Australian clients doing business with Chinese entities which are, ultimately, enforceable in China. This event is useful for any practitioner who may have clients doing business with a Chinese entity and want both a familiar litigation environment, in the event of contractual disputes, and an enforceable result in China.

6:00pm – 7:30pm 27 March 2017
Proudly hosted by Clayton Utz
1 Bligh Street, Sydney
Free Registration – Limited to 100 places

For more information and registration details, please click here.